England promised to show their spirit against the All Blacks, and they were as good as their word. If you wanted a moment that summed up the challenge they presented to a side generally reckoned to be their superior in every respect, it would have to be Steve Borthwick's tackle on Dan Carter in the 18th minute, when the England captain arrived at the same time as the ball and forced it out of the New Zealand fly-half's grasp. Twickenham rocked with glee.

Borthwick has had few moments to put on his highlights reel since Martin Johnson entrusted him with the captaincy 18 months ago, and yesterday morning he woke up to read Matt Dawson's demand for him to live up to his office and lead from the front. With that single tackle, he epitomised a dogged first-half performance in which England seized every opportunity to take the game to their more polished opponents.

Tom Croft's terrific sacking of Jimmy Cowan on England's 22 in the first minute of the second half offered a similar act of defiance, one that set up a tremendous counterattack in which Paul Hodgson's touch kick put his team within 5m of the visitors' line. A quarter of an hour later Ugo Monye raised the morale further when he ripped the ball from Zac Guildford's grasp.

At that stage England looked as though they might have weathered the worst of the All Blacks' post-interval efforts. But individual shows of resistance were not enough, and Cowan's 58th-minute try effectively settled the match, although referee Jonathan Kaplan missed the forward pass with which Richie McCaw sent his scrum-half scampering over in the corner.

By this time, too, Carter had found his accuracy with the boot, which meant that the only remaining imponderable was the size of the All Blacks' winning margin. Misgivings about England's selectorial policy were raised in the last quarter when, with England desperately requiring territory and points, the hapless Matt Banahan twice knocked on when receiving the ball in promising positions. Jonny Wilkinson's missed drop-goal attempt was another pressure-reliever for New Zealand.

Tom Croft, on for the unfortunate Joe Worsley since the third minute, made England's most rousing break with seven minutes to go, forcing Carter into a desperate chase and tackle which saw the flanker brought down a few metres from the line. The urgency of England's last ditch efforts allowed them to leave the field with heads held high, but they were never anything other than second best against a side that never needed their higher gears on the way to their third victory out of three on this European tour.